(a) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a device for the in-hospital transportation of medical equipment, particularly flexible medical endoscopes, both before and after use.
Flexible medical endoscopes are used for the internal examination of various parts of the human or animal body. They are produced in diameters ranging from 0.02 to 0.6 in (0.5 to 15 mm) and with lengths of 12 to 120 in (300 to 3000 mm). The majority have internal channels, down which air, water or accessories may be directed so as to facilitate examinations, or to carry out surgical procedures. A modern electronic or video endoscope is a relatively expensive piece of equipment, typically costing in the region of US$30,000 (GB£20,000).
Due to the invasive nature of many of the procedures for which flexible medical endoscopes are used, it is necessary that they be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected prior to and after each use.
(b) Description of Prior Art
Ideally, the room in which the cleaning and disinfection are carried out should be in fairly close proximity to the operating theatre or procedure room. However, this ideal is seldom achieved, and this results in endoscopes being carried over fairly long distances both prior to, and after, being used on a patient.
The present invention has been developed, following experience in hospital departments carrying out flexible endoscopy over many years and in many countries, including the United States, Germany, France, Japan and the United Kingdom. The methods of carrying endoscopes between the procedure room and the cleaning room vary little between one country and another, or with the elapse of time, and would generally be considered unsatisfactory, based on such criteria as:
protection of the endoscope both before and after use, against accidental damage or contamination;
protection of the staff, patients, and workplace against contamination, and possible infection, deriving from a used and uncleaned endoscope; and
protection of unused endoscopes against the potential for cross-contamination from contact with used endoscopes carrying infectious matter or with any surface that has previously been in contact with a contaminated endoscope.
Furthermore, at least in the United Kingdom and France, the recent BSE (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy) crisis has led to heightened concerns that the human form, Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD), may be transmitted by contaminated endoscopes. Moreover, the recent re-emergence of tuberculosis also presents a threat of airborne contamination, in areas where endoscopes are being used and transported.
The present invention seeks to address all the above problems of moving flexible endoscopes from one area to another in a safe and hygienic way, thus without exposing anyone or anything to contamination. The present invention has been developed particularly for use in transporting flexible medical endoscopes, and hence is described herein with particular reference to that use. Nevertheless, it will be appreciated that the present invention may also find use in the transportation of other medical equipment and/or any other situation where it is important that cleanliness be maintained or contamination be contained.
According to the present invention, there is provided a device for in-hospital transportation of flexible medical endoscopes, both before and after use, which device comprises:
a re-usable tray having a downwardly-dished, inner compartment defined by a generally planar base, surrounding walls upstanding therefrom, and peripheral lip-portion(s) provided at least partially around said surrounding walls and extending outwardly therefrom, said tray being formed of a semi-rigid material which is capable of withstanding repeated disinfection, and being so constructed and dimensioned as when in use to provide support for an endoscope coiled in a stress-free state therewithin; and
a single-use, disposable tray-liner having margins extensive enough to be able when assembled with the underlying tray to embrace and to detachably-engage at least a major part of the lip-portion(s) thereof and be thereby removably retained thereon, and an open-faced pouch provided centrally of said margins, and being so constructed and dimensioned that in use said pouch is able to conform itself to the contours of the dished endoscope compartment of the underlying tray, said tray-liner being formed of a flexibly deformable, sheet material impermeable to bodily fluids; and
a pouch-closing protective cover which in use can be extended from one edge across the open-face of the liner pouch supported in the inner compartment and suitably but detachably secured to the other edge thereof so as safely to enclose and protect the endoscope when it is within the liner-pouch within the inner compartment, said cover being formed of a material similar to that of the tray-liner.
It is envisaged that the pouch-closing protective cover may be supplied either integrally with or affixed to the tray liner, or even as a separate component.
The term xe2x80x9cmarginsxe2x80x9d as used herein refers to those portions of the liner which, when assembled with the underlying tray, are folded over the apex of the tray walls to engage with the peripheral lip-portions extending externally around the tray. The margins may conveniently be no more than upper portions of walls defining the liner pouch, or may alternatively be formed as a distinct, though still integral, component of the liner.